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“Suburban Unrest”, HOA-Compliant Residence in Boulder, CO, USA

Suburban Unrest is an award-winning postage stamp sized homestead that exemplifies ecological design within the confines of a homeowners association and typical carelessly planned suburbia. Sense of place is a primary motivating factor to demonstrate home scale food and medicine gardening from existing rainfall in a dryland climate via innovative rainwater harvesting techniques. House, habits, and landscape are woven together to conserve energy and increase comfort. Permaculture principles act as a guiding light throughout.

This site has served as a community template for the design of passively irrigated suburban landscapes in the Front Range of Colorado since 2011. It won the Star Yard of the Year Award in 2012, and continues to shift perspectives of what a non-irrigated landscape can be in a high desert climate.